Molar extraction on Tuesday help

[extractiontime]

I have general anxiety and medical anxiety and I’m having my bottom left front molar out. It was between that for £100 or paying for root canal at £1000, which I can’t afford. I still have my wisdom teeth, so I will have two molars left.
I’m putting myself on a soft food diet for a week before my holiday and I will do the salt dribble ? after a day.
I’m so scared to have the actual thing done. I’m worried about teeth moving, a clot not forming, the tooth breaking.
I had an emergency appointment and she did the cold test and it was horrible on it. Unbearably cold.
I had a filling in this tooth in January and as soon as he showed me the x-ray telling me how close it was to the nerve I knew he shouldn’t have done it.
It’s so sensitive since I’ve struggled with cold, even cool and hot food and now I only eat and drink on the right side, which I will continue to do for a couple of weeks after this.
Any advice? I’ve never had a tooth out before and I only started having dental work in January after not going for 10 years due to anxiety. I’m 28.

 

[Enarete]

Hi extractiontime,

having a tooth out for the first time sounds really scary and suffering from general anxiety probably doesn’t help, but to reassure you, extractions are often one of the quickest procedures! Chances are that the tooth will come out within a few minutes maximum.

To comment on the fears you mentioned: teeth moving - yes, teeth actually move all the time and all our lives, even without extractions. Is there something special that you are worried about in this regard?

When it comes to the tooth breaking: that happens often and your dentist will expect that. A tooth breaking during an extraction is not a bad thing at all, it just makes an odd crispy sound. It is very unlikely that the clot wouldn‘t form, but even if I think of the super improbable worst-case scenario - if that happens, you just go back and your dentist can fix it.

I‘m sure you will be relieved once the extraction is over and it will surely be great to be pain-free again. The majority of our fears never come true and when it comes to extractions, people are usually surprised how smoothly it went.

All the best wishes

 

[biffo1963]

Having one tooth removed will make zero difference to eating once the extraction site has healed - you really won't miss it ! You will also be free of your current pain, so win-win. Just be sure to follow your dentist's aftercare instructions, and try to avoid chewing on that side for a few days - a couple of weeks is overkill, but do what you feel happiest with .